"But I killed them all, didn't I?"
Jiraiya stared at the tall red-haired youth before him, the mocking smile on Kyōsai's face making his eyes widen slightly.
"Do you even hear yourself?"
"Kusagakure wasn't just those few scum."
"There were innocent people too. Families. Couples in love. Children who had nothing to do with any of it—"
"Enough!"
Kyōsai's furious roar cut him off.
"The people you're talking about were protected by those bastards!"
"Their peace and happiness were built on Mika's suffering!"
"Don't be so self-righteous, Jiraiya."
His voice was ice.
"They had friends. Families. Lovers."
"So Mika deserved to die?"
"Do you even know what Vitality Healing really means?"
The wind swept across the rooftop, lifting Kyōsai's red hair—and chilling Jiraiya's heart.
Kyōsai yanked up his sleeve.
A deep bite mark scarred his muscular forearm.
"I have it too."
"Bite me, and your wounds and chakra recover instantly."
"The price? Life force."
"A few times is manageable."
"But if it continues, the user will be drained to death."
"Mika's body was covered in marks like this."
"Have you ever felt that kind of pain?"
"When I found her…"
"She was barely clothed."
"Five or six strange men were biting her."
His crimson eyes burned.
"I am Uzumaki. She was Uzumaki."
"I avenged my clan."
"What's wrong with that?"
The tall, red-haired youth looked down at Jiraiya like frost given human form.
"Kyō—"
Kyōsai didn't let him finish.
He brushed past Jiraiya without another word.
As they crossed paths, Jiraiya spoke quietly.
"Kyōsai… do you know?"
"A ninja is someone who endures everything."
Kyōsai stopped.
His vertical crimson pupils locked onto him.
"Endures everything?"
"Then why don't you endure me?"
In the next instant—
A sharp, tearing gust split the air.
Kyōsai's kick struck like a whip.
Jiraiya was sent flying straight off the Hokage Building rooftop.
He crashed down to the ground below.
"Lord Jiraiya!"
Several shinobi rushed to his side.
Kyōsai looked down once, expression unreadable.
Then he turned and walked away without hesitation.
"Kyōsai…"
In the stairwell, kaoru stood waiting.
She had likely been there for some time.
"…Sorry."
Only in front of her did Kyōsai allow his defenses to fall.
He pulled the blonde girl into his arms, voice low.
"Did I make things difficult for you?"
Between him and Jiraiya, the one suffering most was neither of them.
It was kaoru .
One was her lover.
One was her teacher.
No matter the outcome, she would be the one hurt.
kaoru didn't answer immediately.
She rested her head against his shoulder.
"Sensei has his beliefs. You have your responsibilities."
"But if possible…"
"I don't want you two standing against each other."
Her voice was soft, almost swallowed by the wind.
"…Alright."
Kyōsai breathed in her scent.
Whatever she asked, he could never refuse.
Hearing his answer, kaoru held him tighter.
Later, as Jiraiya climbed the Hokage Building steps, clutching his waist—
A figure blocked his path.
"Jiraiya. Care to talk?"
Sakumo Hatake smiled gently.
Jiraiya gave a bitter laugh.
"What is it? The student kicks me, now the teacher's turn?"
Sakumo said nothing, simply supporting him back to the rooftop where he had been sent flying moments earlier.
He gazed over the village.
"Jiraiya… you know."
"Kyōsai is Uzumaki."
"Not long after he arrived in Konoha, the Uzumaki clan was wiped out."
"The timing was too coincidental."
"Rather than luck, I believe Lady Mito and the clan head arranged his survival deliberately."
Jiraiya leaned against the railing, listening in silence.
"He was six."
"Six years old, alone in a foreign village."
"Yet on his first day at the Academy, he loudly declared he would become Hokage."
"A six-year-old child."
"Homeless. Clan destroyed."
"Can you imagine how helpless he must have felt?"
Sakumo exhaled softly.
"Truthfully, I can't fully understand that pain either."
"But try putting yourself in his place."
"How heavy would that burden be?"
"The girl Mika—I met her recently."
"She and Kyōsai knew each other before Konoha."
"Imagine losing your entire clan… then discovering one survivor."
"And finding her tortured."
"Can you understand that feeling?"
Jiraiya couldn't.
He had been an orphan since childhood.
He never truly experienced family.
He didn't know what it meant to lose everything twice.
"You've watched Kyōsai grow up."
"He can be reckless."
"But he's a good kid."
"He protects those close to him."
"Remember when he stormed Kirigakure alone for Hyūga Nao's Byakugan?"
"That tells you everything."
A strong gust swept across the rooftop, ruffling Sakumo's silver hair and Jiraiya's white locks.
"Jiraiya, if you want someone to understand reason…"
"You have to try understanding them first."
Sakumo placed a hand on his shoulder.
"And think about kaoru too."
"With things like this…"
"She's probably hurting the most."
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